Abstract:

What are the specific events and decisions that actually occur in the identification, design, and implementation of joint ventures involving Western enterprises and East European enterprises? To answer this question a case study research program is presented in this article. Detailed flow diagrams of the interactions of people, key events, and decisions involving two international joint ventures in Hungary are presented. The joint ventures examined include the start of a new fast food restaurant chain in Hungary (major participants: McDonald’s and Babolna) and a large-scale retail furniture store (IKEA and Butarker). The decision processes described are similar in execution to the Bounded rationality model of decision making, for example, as predicted by the model some search occurred but was limited to collecting information to evaluate the idea of the joint venture; no search occurred to develop a pool of candidates for the proposed joint venture partners. The paper concludes with some strategic insights for guiding the identification and evaluation of joint venture opportunities in Eastem/Central Europe.